Dwarves, Flames and Circadian Flaws
by Hail To King Joffey
Summary: Leah, an awkward 24 year old Registered Nurse, always believed in helping others. When she is forced into an adventure in a time and place not of her own, it may be time to help herself in the process. Thorin/OC.


"Catch!", Leah blindly groped in front of her, just catching in time the bedsheets which were being flung at her face. A pair of dancing green eyes appeared in front of her, a wide smile and freckles revealing that it was her workmate Tara who had accosted her. "I really hate you sometimes", Leah grumbled under her breath, fixing her glasses which had slid down her nose."You don't know what could have been on these sheets". Her workmate simply laughed, and starting to fix her hair in the mirror. Too preoccupied with fixing an errant flick of hair which was sticking up, she did not see the slightly evil grin which crept over leah's face or the bundle of linen which smacked into the side of her head.

Tara was still grumbling two hours later when the two nurses finally sank into two armchairs in the staff room. 3 am was not the busiest time of the emergency ward, and Wednesday nights did drag on, allowing what normally never happened – a 10 minute break for both nurses. As if fate knew that Leah had just dropped a teabag into a mug, her pager went off, quickly followed by Tara's. Leah looked at her friend, both sighing and rolling their eyes. "Knew that would happen" Tara grumbled, hastily shoving a second cookie into her mouth and spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Well we didn't sign up for this job for the free time", Leah sighed, leaving her mug in the sink and chucking her hair back up in a neater ponytail. Once both women had their badges and coats secured and deemed eachother presentable, they efficiently made their way down the corridors to the emergency admittance area.

"Or the Money"

"Ha, Or the Workplace Respect"

"Hot Men"

" Time to Sleep"

"Time to Eat"

"Time to BREATHE".

At the end of this exchange, the two parted with a grin, Tara darting up the corrider to the left, leading into the stockroom, and Leah entering into the triage area, where patients initially came into emergency to wait to be assessed. As she entered, immediately she became aware of an irate young man, in a dark green hoody and "shredded" jeans, clearly displaying the ever fashionable trend of having his jocks half out - waving his arms threateningly at Amber over the front counter, the emergency receptionist, hospital security not in sight.

Leah placed her hand on the back of Amber's shoulder, immediately Amber let out a breath of release, the shoulder Leah's hand rested on drooping. She made eye contact with him, noticing his eyes were dilated and he was swaying unsteadily on his feet. Clearly he was off his face on drugs, or alcohol, possibly both.

"Excuse me Sir, what seems to be the problem".

This just set him off again. "Fuck ya's, I've been waiting for forever, all I want is me fucking meds hey!, And this dumb cunt's tellin me It's going to be 2 hours waiting, like fuck it is". Leah's patience was rapidly dwindling, slow anger pooling in her stomach as he proceeded to swear about the wait, the receptionist, and herself being "useless as dogshit". As he opened his mouth to begin another tirade, Leah interrupted him , drawing up her hand in a 'stop' gesture, and cut him off before the verbal barrage began again. "Sir, we are a hospital, we do have to triage patients who may need more critical care" at this, he continued swearing, his eyes dilating to nearly all black pupil.

With relief, she finally saw George - the hospital head of security staff, out of the corner of her eye, entering the room, hand on his radio. Putting her hands on her hips, She took on her most "Authority" like voice, "If you are unable to behave appropriately and threaten staff we are unable to help you, and you must leave the premises now".

Fifteen minutes later, what seemed like a million expletives, and three chairs knocked over, an exhausted leah collapsed into one of the waiting room chairs. An older mother on the opposite side of the room, cradling her three year old son who was fast asleep and drooling on her shirt, gave Leah a small smile. "You did well with him. I don't know how you all deal with people like that".

Leah gave her a self-deprecating smile, "Somedays, neither do I" .

With a huge sigh of relief, she glanced at her watch 45 minutes later, and watched the clock tick over to signal the end of her shift: 4.31am. She quickly made her way to the staff room, giving small smiles to staff who were just coming in to begin their shifts – looking far more fresh and _clean_ then she felt right now. What she wouldn't give for a shower.

Leah pulled a grey cardigan over the camisole she wore underneath her scrubs, shoving the uniform into her locker. Grabbing her bag, keys phone and wallet, she checked her phone – o messages, _big surprise there_ – and 1 facebook notification, and made her way to the carpark, firstly waving goodby to George, refusing an escort with a smile - to start the walk back to her apartment, which thankfully was only two blocks away.

She was too busy imagining a shower, cup of tea and bambi pyjamas _- which had her name aaaaaall over them_, to notice a shadow in the corner of the street. Leah became far more aware when a boney hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her down to the ground – her phone and bag all rolling away, coming to a rest against a bin bag left on the ground. Leah gave a small shriek as she fell, hands automatically feeling for purchase to brace her weight, half rolling to her side. Her cardigan half caught on the ground, picking up dirt and gravel, hands stinging. "Been waiting for you, dumb slut!" He caught her hair in one grip, kicking her in the ribs. She tried to roll away, some strands of hair tearing, one hand moving to protect her ribs, the other scrabbling to reach his arms, perhaps to claw at him to move him away. Her eyes were watering from the pain in her ribcage. "Stop! Please!" she sobbed, trying to attract some attention in the hope someone may be walking nearby.

A quick flash of metal, and a searing flash of pain in her stomach. _Shit._ Another searing pain just below her right breast, He let go of her hair, Leah finally able to turn her head to look at him, his face wearing a uncertain expression – he looked much younger than before in the hospital, face distorted with rage. His hand was trembling slightly, the silver blade he held streaked with blood. _Her blood. _Her hand grabbed her stomach, applying pressure to the bleed, knowing she was in real trouble of loosing too much blood too quickly.

Unfortunately she was running out of hands, one hand already supporting herself slightly upwards, and the other pressed to her stomach. She dumbly looked down, two red stains widely spreading to mix with the grey of her cardigan, already coating her hand in a red sticky film. She dumbly noted she was sitting in a small puddle of blood already. _This will be a mess to clean up. _Leah thought numbly.

_Shock. I'm in Shock. _

She tried to think of what to do next. _There, Her bag! _Leah half crawled to where her bag lay, forgotten in the alley. With shaking fingers, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed OOO, trying to reapply pressure to both wounds and failing miserably.

"Hello What is your Emergency? Fire, Police or Ambulance".

"I've been stabbed", Leah breathed into the phone, faintly she became aware of a growing sense of alarm within her. "Can I have your location please?" "Wilson Street, near to Willister General Hospital – I'm a nurse there".

"We are on our way, I need you to apply pressure to your wound – Can you stay on the line?" Leah nodded, after the woman on the phone prompted "Ma'am?", "Yes, I can try". "Okay good, listen ma'am, the ambulance is on it's way".

Leah looked down, with a sense of detachment noting that while the pain was there, it felt as though she was in a dream, or that this was happening to someone else than her. After all, normally she was the one attending to patients with stab wounds, or gun shots. She did not notice her back sliding against the brick alley wall, nor that her eyes were flickering shut. _That's a lot of blood_, was her last lucid thought.

Two Months later, a fraught looking Leah huffed and shoved the last box of clothing into her new apartment, puffing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes as she cradled a phone inbetween her ear and shoulder. "Yes, Mum I'm FINE honestly. Look, last bag unpacked right now. I just need to get settled." With her toe, she pushed a stray box marked "Towels", into the corner. "I'm FINE mum. Truly".

She slumped onto her back in her bed, - her _new_ bed, in her _new_ apartment. Noting her doona smelt slightly of lavender and old wood. Her cat, King Joffrey (Joffy for short), decided that this was an opportune moment to slink over, nuzzle her nose – and then sit on her face.

With a snort of amusement she pushed him off, Joffy gave a disgruntled yowl, pranced to the other side of the bed, and with a look of feline displeasure, began to lick himself.

"The trial is in two weeks mother, I don't need to be looked after like a lost puppy. I'm a nurse. I know how to look after myself. Now that I've moved, I'll be able to get over it all. I'll be fine." Her hand traced over the just healed scar on her stomach, over the cotton of her shirt. She knew this wasn't very true. After waking up in the hospital, tubes and masks everywhere, she had anxiety attacks and nightmares most nights. She'd be lucky to get 5 hours sleep. She hadn't been able to continue working at the hospital – which everyone had been more than understanding with. Leah had taken an indefinite break, and was now moving into a smaller town – beginning work in a small surgery the following Monday.

Flashing blades, Angry voices, Pain.

_Always Pain._

"Yes, Yes, I've got to go, I need to finish unpacking. I love you, Bye". With a sigh, Leah half threw her phone closed on the bed, and ran both hands over her face in slight exasperation. _I really do love her, but JESUS Christ. She knows how to make me feel like a two year old._

Exhaustion suddenly hit, her mouth opening in a huge stretching yawn. Leah grabbed one of the pillows off the bedspread and cuddled it to her, eyes drifting close, thoughts of packing, the hospital and her mother crowding in her head until each gave way to the promise of sleep.

When Leah thought about this at a later date, It could have only been the exhaustion of moving house, coupled with the stress of work and her body's delayed reaction to so little sleep, which had her in a sleep so deep that when the softness of her pillow and doona switched to hard ground, the warmth of her house turned into sweet night air, and the distant sounds of the city completely ceased, she did not notice until she woke up with a start and noticed all these things and more.

Starting with the fact that it was dark, cold, a stick was poking into her spine and that she was in a forest.


End file.
